Weekly Notices - 11th October 2026
When I think about party invitations and celebrations, my mind immediately goes to the settings of Hindu wedding receptions back in Fiji. They are the most colourful of affairs, full of elaborate red and gold decorations and flamboyant dancing and vibrancy. The whole village is invited; the only condition of attendance is that you dress in dramatic colours too – competing with the bride in her radiance.
This week we read about a wedding feast in Jesus’ time and the challenge of getting that all-important ‘Yes’ on the RSVP card. Even today, we spend days, weeks, even months, preparing for a special celebration and then we hold our breath for the RSVP notices to start filtering back in, and hope that at least a few will attend.
The Kingdom of God waits quietly for our RSVP. In this crazy world of violence and warfare, the Kingdom of God waits. Our eternal Host has given us a world to live in and the freedom to choose justice and peace and yet we find ourselves making choices that take us away from that particular banquet, towards a feast of destruction, tears and turmoil.
Maybe it is time to re-focus our journey as a parish and as individuals, and bring back the wild colours of joy, delight and inclusivity into our lives. Perhaps, rather than looking at the ‘decor’ for our celebrations within our lifetimes, we should be looking at the ‘menu’ and reconstructing them to mirror that wonderful, eternal gift that God holds for us – a place at His table and an RSVP notice with a huge ‘YES’ to ensure our attendance!
May God always bless St Aug’s
Your Friend and Vicar, Kofe.
Vicar Kofe
This Sunday’s Service (11th October)
Theme: All are invited, no matter how unworthy, to the gathering in God's house.
Sentence: The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.
Matthew 21:42
Collect:
Almighty, Living host,
call us together; call us to eat and drink with you.
Grant that by your body and your blood
we may be drawn to each other and to you.
We make this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Amen
Readings: Isaiah 26: 6 – 10 & Matthew 22: 1 – 14
For Your Diaries:
Monday 12th October: pre-election Meet the Candidates Evening at St Aug’s. 7pm start. Thanks to Lerks Stedman and Catherine Gibbs for organizing this.
We are starting to look ahead to our Christmas services and would like to invite you to be a part of our
9 Lessons & Carols service to be held at 10am, Sunday 20th December.
This is a very special service, and is thoroughly enjoyed by all who attend. If you want to be a Reader, let Kofe know. We are looking for 9 gracious people to read and take us through the beautiful story of Creation through to Christmas.
PRAYER TEAM UPATE
For about a year now, a group of anywhere between 5 and 10 parishioners have gathered monthly to pray primarily for our parish. This group makes up our parish Prayer Ministry Team, and includes the Sunday Intercessors, the Email Prayer Requests Group and the Prayer Working Group members. Our fellowship is always so positive and so enriching!
We have decided it’s now time to open this Prayer Meeting up to the whole parish.
YOU ARE INVITED!!!!!!!!
WHAT? Monthly Parish Prayer Meeting
WHEN? First Saturday of the month from 10-11am
WHERE? In the Hannan Centre
WHY? Our parish has big and significant decisions to be made in the near future e.g. the possible combining of our Sunday Services, the direction of our Youth and Children’s Ministry, Alpha in the near future, our finances, to name a few
Above all this is Christ’s call to share his Gospel and message of love with our families, friends and community. Through prayer, we as a parish receive direction as to how best to do this. Building his Kingdom is our privilege!
We want to assure you that, for those who feel uncomfortable with praying aloud, there will be no pressure to do so! It will be quite ok if you just listen to the prayers being offered and participate by joining in in silence. Your presence alone will be an encouragement to us – and will delight your Father God. Just as you love to spend time with your children, you can be sure that God loves to spend time with you!
Recently, the announcement was made that our Sunday morning services will be merging into a combined service each week, at 10am.
This has been a difficult decision for Vestry to make, and we ask your prayers over each other as we come together. With a couple of combined services scheduled for November, we will making the change-over on Christmas Day.
Our musicians are working together to ensure that the calibre of worship music is not lost - through an alternation of the organ and the 11am band.
We are also planning for Communion to be offered to you every Sunday.
Click here to view the timeline which brought us this far.
Please continue to hold St Aug's closely in prayer.
City Mission Food Basket:
A GREAT BIG THANKS to those who are regularly donating to our Food Basket at the back of the church (and the recent generous donations). Every little bit counts! Your valuable contributions help the poor and needy in our city survive. Keep it coming!!!
A call for empty, clean 2L milk bottles please. This is for an exciting venture Francie & Robin Shulz are putting together. Please drop off your empty bottles to the parish office during the week, or bring them with you on Sundays.
Helpful info
Giving
Groups
It’s easy to connect and get involved with some great social and faith-focused groups that meet regularly across the parish. You can find out about all our regular groups on our Groups page. If you have any questions, just click the contact button to connect with the group’s organiser.
Need prayer?
We’d love to pray for you. See the ‘Prayer Support’ section on the Help & Support page for more information on how we can help with your prayer needs. There are confidential and anonymous options available.